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People smoke for various reasons, some of
which are unfathomable. They smoke because of physical or mental
addiction, to release stress, to look more mature, to gain more energy,
to gain social acceptance and for many other excuses.
Every drag from a cigarette releases trillions of harmful free radicals
into your body system. Each pack of 20 sticks cut short 28 minutes of
your life. Thus a typical smoker is estimated to lose approximately 23 years of
his or her prime time.
Tobacco smoke contains chemical agents, including 50 known
cancer-causing compounds and 400 other toxins. The chemical found in
each puff could be more shocking and hazardous than that we can
imagine. Among them include ammonia used to make fertilizers; cadmium used in
batteries; carbon monoxide-exhaust from motor vehicle; tar used to pave
roads; methanol used as liquid fuel; nicotine used as insecticide;
hexamine a hardening component used in phenolic resin molding compounds;
benzene used in making dyes and synthetic rubber; stearic acid an
ingredient used in making plastic and formaldehyde used to preserve
dead specimens.
These chemicals can kill in different ways, including various forms of
cancer, heart diseases, strokes, and chronic bronchitis and other
respiratory diseases.
Tobacco smoke causes great damage to your respiratory system. Every day
we breathe about 23,000 times, and inhale almost 11,000 liters of air.
With each breathe, our lungs deliver oxygen to the red blood cells and
expel carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Our body requires a sufficient delivery of oxygen to the cells, tissues
and organs for normal functioning; therefore it is important to keep
your lung healthy and strong.
About 90% of the tar and nicotine inhaled through smoking is absorbed
and retained by the lungs. Tar build-up impairs the cleansing membranes
of your lungs, blocks oxygen absorption and retains the carcinogens and
these eventually lead to the development of lung cancer.
Smoking raises the temperature in your mouth and dries the mouth by
inhibiting saliva flow. The result causes bacteria to build-up and
bad-breadth (halitosis). Prolonged smoking also leads to stained teeth,
tooth decay, gum diseases and oral cancer.
Nicotine reaches our brain via the blood stream within 8 seconds and
spreads through the whole body in 15 to 20 seconds. It also damages
brain cells and diminishes concentration and memory. The craving effect
comes from nicotine.
Secondary smokes from tobacco are also hazardous. It is estimated that
the smoker inhales only 15% of cigarette smoke. The 85% of cigarette
smoke remain in the air for everyone to breathe in. Secondary smoke is
4 times more toxic than primary smoke. Just 30 minutes of exposure to
secondary smoke can cause blood vessel injury, stem cell damage and
impaired coronary circulation in a non-smoker. Research has indicated
that people exposed to large amounts of secondary smoke have a triple
risk of getting lung cancer.
All of us are exposed to noxious gases from factories, secondary smoke,
haze, fuel, toxic chemicals, dust and motor vehicles exhaust fumes. WHO
estimates that 2.4 million people die annually due to air pollution.
Air pollutants such as heavy metals, ground-level ozone also known as
summertime air pollutant and is the primary constituent of smog, carbon
monoxide and sulfur oxides injure and irritate our lung tissue
directly. Some chemicals and pollutants constrict our blood vessels,
raising blood pressure and forcing our heart to work harder in turn
weakens our heart muscle and leads to heart failure.
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